Sinful Rose
by X009
Summary: Crushed by a twist of fate no one saw coming, abandoned by her mother, left alone with her unfaithful disgrace of a father, Maka starts down a path of darkness from which there is no return. Will they be able to stop her, or will she drag the world down with her as she spirals into madness?
1. Chapter 1

**Here's my answer to the Kishin Maka challenge. Sorry for the wait. I'm currently dealing with some computer issues that may not be resolved for some time, in fact, I may need a new one all together. Fortunately, I backed up this chapter, but updates may be sparse from here on out.**

**I'll be using a few characters and events from Soul Eater NOT, but I haven't read a lot of it, since only the first 14 chapters have been translated as of yet, and it was a while ago. The title of this story was inspired by a song of the same name that served as the opening of the game Disgaea 2. I thought the lyrics fit the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

* * *

It was yet another of the bright, shining days Death City was known for. Located within the heart of the Nevada Desert, there were hardly any days where the laughing sun, with its wide grin, didn't constantly shine down on it, its cheerfulness almost infectious to anyone who simply looked up into the clouds. People bustled about through the streets, going about their daily lives. All in all, it seemed like a beautiful day to be alive, enjoying the relative peace maintained by Shibusen and Lord Death.

This cheerful Friday afternoon, however, was in stark contrast to the life of at least one little girl in the home of the prestigious school for Meisters and Weapons. A ten year old girl laid face down on her bed, sobbing into her pillow, feeling as the area around her eyes grew damp from her tears as the events of the last few hours replayed through her head, over and over, like a broken record that existed solely to torment her by reminding her how her world had shattered.

It was only a few months ago when she'd been so ecstatic, so happy as she looked towards the future. After years of watching her father, man whore that he was, cheat on her mother, going to far as to sometimes let them drag him away right in front of her when they were supposed to be spending the day together, her mother had filed for divorce. She'd admired her for that so, she knew it had to be hard to finally go through with it, since she'd loved him so much she gave him chance after chance. She was planning a trip around the world for the next seven years, to see all kinds of exotic places, and not just on missions for Shibusen on the hunt for evil humans, but to truly enjoy them.

If her father truly loved them, he would have resisted his urges and stayed true to his family. So many happy memories of him had been forever tainted by his unfaithfulness. She'd lay awake at night, unable to sleep with her mother screaming at her father, but she'd always give him another chance. Until now, that is, and since then she'd been looking forward to putting those memories behind her and moving on to her new life with just her mother.

But then, in a ruling no one saw coming, the courts had decided to give her father custody. How could anyone think he was fit to be anyone's guardian? Why, because he happened to be the chief Death Scythe? Now she was stuck under his roof. Every time she saw him, she'd remember some time he hurt her or mama.

As if that weren't bad enough, what did her mother do then? Stick around to comfort her? Stay in town to spend time with her? No, she goes on her trip the very next day.

(Flashback)

"_But I don't want to stay with him." Maka pleaded with tears streaming down her eyes, refusing to refer to Spirit as her father after seeing him cheat on her mother time and time again, seeing him abandon her in the park or in the street when he forgot he promised he'd spend time with some random girl. _

_He did try his best to be a good father in front of her, but so often he'd do something smothering, seeming to believe all boys were players like him, something she'd yet to see any evidence of the contrary for, or embarrassing, like how he constantly doted on her or when his goofiness crossed the line between loveable and annoying._

_Her mother, Kami, a beautiful young woman of Japanese descent with ash blonde hair the same shade as her daughter's tied in a ponytail that went halfway down her back, wearing a flowing, yellow dress, kneeled down and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Sorry, Maka, but I can't take you with me. Don't let yourself get down, you're a strong girl. I know this hurts, but that just means you're getting stronger." She pulled her daughter into a hug, placing her cheek against the side of the young girl's forehead. "Remember, mama loves you. Hold onto your courage, never back down, and make mama proud, ok?_"

(Flashback)

And then she was gone (after slapping Spirit through the wall when he tried to apologize to her _again_).

How could she just leave? How could she abandon her to spend the next seven years with her unfaithful father?

"MAKA!" She heard her father call through the door.

Outside the room, Spirit pressed himself against the door, resting his ear on its frame and praying that something he said could get his daughter to stop crying, which had now quieted down into quiet sobs. "OPEN UP, PLEASE! YOU KNOW PAPA LOVES YOU RIGHT!?" She heard him bang against the door. "Please Maka, come out and get something to eat. You can't just stay locked up in your room forever!" When he received no other response, he banged on the door once again and desperately cried, "PLEASE! I KNOW YOU'RE UPSET ABOUT MAMA, BUT I'LL CHANGE! I'LL ALWAYS BE HERE FOR YOU, I PROMISE, MAKA!"

In her current state, she hardly paid attention to his words. Even if she had, after all the times he made the same promise to her mother, she wouldn't have believed him. He said he loved them, but he'd always let himself be led away by anything in a skirt.

If she were paying attention, she'd have scoffed. What kind of father was he? As it was, she simply kept her face buried in her pillow.

Like she told him after she'd been fed up with how he hurt her mother, she'd long since stopped acknowledging him as her father.

* * *

The next day, as the midday sun shined through her window, Maka sat at her desk, staring blankly at the sheet of paper in front of her, a pencil held in her hand above it as she attempted to pour all her ill feelings into poetry. It was something she'd picked up under the suggestion of Sid-sensei from the academy on a day he noticed she was particularly down and she found that pouring all her negative sentiments (mostly over her father's actions) into her writing had always put her at ease before.

But it wasn't working this time. No matter how much she wrote, that pain never ebbed away. The ball of feelings in her chest stubbornly refused to leave her. The bitterness, sorrow, loss, and more than small sense of resentment she felt stayed strong, and, if anything, writing simply proved to frustrate her more.

In the corner of the room, next to a bookcase filled with books her father bought her, filled with books in her grade about soul studies and common subjects and everything from fantasy and mystery stories to history texts, each of which she'd read, were several crumpled sheets of paper. Each a poem she'd pushed her feelings into, each thrown away when they did nothing to ease her heart. What was written on these sheets was mostly covered up, except for the final lines of the most recent poem.

_And every wound has to have its 'birth' before it can reach its 'demise'_

_And that end waits just as surely as tomorrow's sun will rise_

_But all things pure will always share the same fate as those pains_

_And now, like dead leaves in the cold winter nights, only ashes remain_

Maka sighed as she stared down, trying to think of her next work when her stomach rumbled.

Loudly.

It didn't elicit any great response from the young girl, who simply looked down at her empty stomach. She hadn't really felt like eating since the previous day, but when her father left dinner and a drink at her room door, she'd taken it. Now, however, Spirit wanted her to come out of the room and told her breakfast was waiting, but at the time, she hadn't felt like getting out of bed and had stayed locked up in her room. It had no doubt long gotten cold by now. She still didn't feel like leaving her room, but she couldn't ignore her complaining belly anymore.

Pushing herself away from her desk, she stood up and walked to her door and unlocked it before slowly pulling it open. It creaked on its hinges as it swung wider, the sound causing her father, who sat in their living room, sulking on the sofa, to suddenly sit bolt upright and spin around to look in its direction with an expression of absolute elation.

"MAKA!" Spirit cried as he shot off of the sofa and seemed to almost teleport to Maka's side, falling down on his knees and wrapping his arms around her, though she made no move to react, tears streaming from his eyes as he cried, "MAKA, I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU OUT OF YOUR ROOM! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!? I KNOW YOU MUST BE HURTING, BUT DON'T WORRY, PAPA WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU AGAIN, I PROMISE MAKA!"

Normally, Maka might mentally quip something along the lines of 'yep, nothing unusual here' or 'I wonder if the neighbors are going to complain about the noise again', at the moment she was still numb to the world. She simply replied, "I'm hungry."

Pulling away from his daughter and placing one hand on her shoulder and giving her a thumbs up, Spirit nodded vigorously. "Not to worry, Maka, papa will make your favorite. It'll be the best breakfast you've ever had, just you wait!"

Half an hour later, and they were eating breakfast together, just like the family had shared every morning when they'd truly been a family.

Except mama wasn't there, and never would be again.

It was a fairly spacious kitchen/dining room combination with a checkered tile floor and fairly high quality kitchen equipment all aligned together on the far wall, along with the counter and sink. Two windows and a glass patio door allowed the daylight to shine in.

To his credit, he did a great job of making her breakfast. Delicious French Toast, her favorite breakfast food, with scrambled eggs and cheese and ham and sausage, fresh squeezed orange juice and milk, all painstakingly prepared to absolute perfection. He really could be a doting father when he wanted to.

Too bad that 95% of the time he was a constant source of anger and shame to her, both before and in the foreseeable future.

Spirit's own breakfast was hardly touched as he watched Maka push her food around a bit but slowly eat it.

"So, how is it? Does it brighten up your day at all?" Spirit asked, hoping to get her to open up.

"It's good." Maka replied blankly, her face an emotionless mask and her eyes never leaving her plate.

"So, I did a good job?"

"Yeah."

He leaned towards her, looking expectantly with no small amount of optimism in his eyes. In fact, the light of hope shining from his eyes may have blinded her if she looked up from her food as he smiled eagerly. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Not really."

He winced at that and sat back, giving her a slightly anguished look while trying to school his features and project a comforting aura for her.

It pained him to see his little girl this way. He was under no delusions that this was anyone's fault but his own. He may have been a doting father when he was actually there for her, but he was well aware that overall he was a terrible parent and a horrible husband. Not even Lord Death would be able to tell him how many times he'd blatantly cheated on her mother in front of her.

He knew he shouldn't do it. He knew he should have been there for his family, but he just couldn't control that part of himself. He never could, not since he was a child. He knew that was a weak excuse and didn't justify his actions in the slightest, but it was true. And while Kama could have stayed in town, he couldn't blame her for wanting to put as much distance between herself and him as possible after the number of times he'd betrayed her.

He was a failure, as a father and a husband, and he knew it.

After a pause, he prodded, "You know I'm sorry right? About mama leaving?"

"Yeah."

"You know papa loves you, right?"

"Uh-huh."

He continued to ask her questions, as she didn't seem to respond to anything else, but she would only ever respond with quick, emotionless, one or two word answers. Much to Spirit's dismay, there seemed to be nothing he could do to make her open up to him.

In short order, she'd finished her meal and abruptly stood up from the table before walking away.

Her father placed his hands on the table and quickly rose to his feet, causing the chair behind him to rake against the floor as he stared after her, his face a mask of worry. "Wait, Maka. Where are you going?"

"To my room." She replied, already halfway across the living room, her head tilted forward so that the shadows cast by her hair covered her eyes.

"YOU CAN'T!" He said, suddenly leaping out of his chair, over the table, and onto the floor behind her, gripping her ankle with both hands ands crying as he rubbed his cheek on her little shin. "PLEASE MAKA, DON'T SHUT YOURSELF IN THERE ANYMORE! I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME MAKA!"

"Let go."

"PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU! I PROMISE I'LL BE A BETTER FATHER FROM NOW ON."

"… Let go."

"PLEASE MAKA, LISTEN TO YOUR PAPA! I PROMISE I'LL MAKE EVERYTHING I'VE DONE UP TO YOU SOMEHOW!"

Finally, after all the prodding he'd done and assurances he'd given since their meal began, he managed to elicit an emotional response from her.

Unfortunately, that emotion was anger.

Maka's face shifted slightly, showing that beneath the shadows her eyebrow had twitched as a cross shaped vein popped up on her forehead and her mouth twisted into a furious snarl. She reached over and grabbed the closest thing at hand, which happened to be a thick, hard cover book.

"I said…" She began, lifting the book high above her head. "LET GO!"

She brought the book down upon her father's head with all her might, the sound of the impact echoed through the home. Holding the book up, she looked down at her father's prone form, lying on the floor with blank, white eyes with the indentation of the book in his skull.

After a moment, Maka gave a slight smile. That had actually made her feel a little better.

'_I'll have to do that more from now on._' She thought to herself. It was a great punishment for when people were acting stupid, not to mention good stress relief. Now, should she give it a name…?

Remembering Lord Death's Reaper-chop, which she'd seen him use on her father once for using his mirror to perv on an attractive meister Death had been watching due to the danger she'd faced, she thought for a moment before nodding to herself with a grin. "Yeah, I'll call it my Maka-chop."

* * *

A few days passed, but still, the sorrow Maka felt from her mother's departure had not faded, nor had the bitterness or resentment she felt towards her father for driving her mother away and her once sainted mother for just up and leaving her. In fact, if anything, those negative sentiments only grew.

It didn't help that her father had finally managed to coax her into letting him take her out through the town in an attempt to cheer her up, only to run across women he'd wined and dined, many of whom mentioning how they wouldn't need to sneak around anymore, tried to pull him away. While he did resist letting his hormones control him as he usually would, she heard one of them come by that night.

She hadn't left till morning.

'_Well, at least he's not cheating on mama anymore…_' she thought bitterly to herself as she walked down the halls of Shibusen academy. As she made her way towards her class, largely ignoring the looks everyone gave her, the divorce and custody battle of Lord Death's weapon being fairly well heard news, meaning most of the school was aware of his infidelity, and that he won custody, her brow furrowed as she thought of her family.

She used to look up to her mother. She was so proud to be the daughter of the creator of a Death Scythe and one of the greatest meisters of her generation, as well as the Death Scythe she created. Now, in the face of being abandoned with her unfaithful father, much of that admiration had faded away.

As she entered the classroom and walked up the stairs and to her seat, stopping and looking out of the window and towards the sky, she made a vow to herself.

She had wanted to be as great as her mother and to make her proud, now she wanted more. She wanted to create a weapon that would put her father to shame. She wanted to become the greatest meister to ever walk the face of the earth and make it clear to everyone that her mother was nothing in comparison.

She would surpass both of her parents. She, with or without a weapon, would become more powerful, more skilled, and more talented and knowledgeable than either of them could ever dream of being. This, she swore to herself.

Soon enough, Sid-sensei stepped into the class.

"All right, class, pipe down and pay attention, you're not here to socialize." He said as he walked to the center of the floor. "Now, let's take roll."

Roll call was a normal affair. Nothing out of the ordinary. Maka responded with the same seriousness she always did before they got down to their class. Today, the lecture was on the various distortions that can exist within a soul wavelength and how they come about and how they can affect the soul and its owner.

However, as Maka listened, she began to grow frustrated, though she kept her features set in the same strict expression as she always did as she hung on the teacher's every word, taking detailed notes and soaking up all the knowledge he had to give.

Ever the perfect student.

However, beneath this, she was beginning to feel slightly frustrated. How was she ever going to accomplish her dreams if this was all she was doing? Sure, she was almost always at the head of the class, number one or two academically depending on where she stood against her chief rival amongst the bookworms, Ox Ford, but how was she ever going to get anywhere if she was only top of her class?

When Sid began going over the most common distortion, the Madness Distortion, which was possessed by people who used insanity to increase their power or possessed a strong madness buried in their soul, but hadn't completely fallen to it, something they'd already gone over so it was largely a recap before moving onto the other distortions, she let her mind and her eyes wander.

Her green orbs swept across the class, taking in all those around her, everyone she knew and had taken classes with for so long, some of whom focusing on the teacher, some projecting an aura that clearly said they didn't care about anything besides the combat portion of their future duties. She wasn't the only one in the class that hadn't partnered up. Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupre, an unpaired weapon. She might try to partner with the black clad girl if she wasn't adamant about being a scythe meister.

Her frown deepened as she watched him dutifully focus on what Sid was saying and considered that that was always her. Was it really such a good idea to follow the teacher unquestioningly? Yes, you'd take in all the teacher's knowledge, but it wasn't like they'd teach you everything they knew. Every artist would teach their students the basics and many secrets, but beyond that it was up to them to come up with their own style. Just like that, in order to understand the deeper aspects of the soul, madness, and technology like the small scale, gadget-like demon tools Shibusen made use of, one would need to pursue knowledge on their own.

Sid would teach them a lot and he was good, that was for sure, but after a certain point, it'd be up to them to either seek out private lessons or pour over the tomes in the library on their own. If that was the case, why should she just do as he said now?

How was she ever going to achieve her goal if she just moved along with the rest of the flock like a sheep following a shepherd?

No, she needed to push on ahead, but she refused to sacrifice her perfect grades by neglecting their current assignments. She would follow along with the class, all the while moving ahead.

Then her eyes fell on yet another meister who'd yet to find a partner: Black Star, one of her oldest friends and the only person in the class she really knew. The boy was a childish attention seeker with an ego the size of Death City, if not the moon, but he was also upbeat and cheerful, always with boundless energy that almost seemed infectious at times. Although, he would always remain positive and jovial, even in the face of utter failure and suffered from delusions of grandeur, constantly going on about how he would surpass God and was terribly self absorbed, he was still a good friend who'd help you out if you needed it, though he'd never let you forget it. While she was in a constant competition for the position of number one student academically, and him near the bottom, he was definitely at the top of the class in terms of combat. Already he had defeated many older students with weapons at their side on his own.

If she wanted to truly reach the top, she'd have to surpass him too.

She buried these thoughts deep in her mind, focusing her attention on the teacher as he moved on to some new information. Today, she would be the dutiful student she always was.

Tonight, she had planning to do.

* * *

That night, as the moon shown in the purple, starless night sky through her window, blood dripping down from its mouth in a sign of ill tidings, Maka nodded to herself as she looked at her diary.

Once she'd gotten home, she once more locked herself in her room, emerging only for the bathroom or dinner, and focused on her work. After finishing her studies and homework, she'd moved on to writing about her new goal and thinking up a basic outline of what she'd need to accomplish in order to fulfill her dreams. Everything that could be useful, or that would be absolutely vital, to her success would be laid out in front of her.

First, as she'd realized within the class, she couldn't just sit back and learn through the standard curriculum. She'd need to go beyond it. The primary subjects she'd need to research would be the anatomy of the body, the soul and any information concerning demon tool, from known ones to their creation and inner workings, for those could only be useful. History would be a vital subject too; after all, those who didn't learn from history were doomed to repeat it, something her mother had told her.

Another major topic she'd research would be how to strengthen a soul and increase the flexibility of her wavelength. After all, that was one of the most vital aspects of both meisters and weapons. Speaking of which, another subject of note was weapons. The gene was passed down through families, and in many cases it lied dormant through generations, though nowadays, after so long after their creation and their spread across the world, just about anyone had the capability to give birth to one, it was more common in families that possessed a weapon in recent generations.

So then, she must have inherited her father's scythe Weapon Blood, but it was dormant within her and wouldn't awaken under normal circumstances. Was it possible to awaken it? That was something that could help her immensely if it was.

Magic would be another important topic to research. Despite what most believed, it was actually present in every living human being, which is why enchanters could learn their craft, but in most the amount of magic is so small that it can't be applied to even simplistic purposes, let alone anything like the spells that made magical beings such as witches and sorcerers so dangerous. Enchanters would usually have to work tirelessly for weeks to knead in enough magic to bring their creations to life, unless they'd done so for decades, and even then while that built up their magic and ability to channel it, it would also cause the body and mind to become set on that method of doing so, so they would never be able to apply that magic in any other form. That, or having one's soul strengthened with magic, was the best most normal people could hope for, as it was impossible to learn the type of spells and even basic magic witches and sorcerers used without either inborn ability or someone or something powerful infusing it into one's soul because there was no other known way for normal people to increase the magic in their souls on their own. She doubted she'd ever be able to use magic in any form, and even if it was possible there obviously wouldn't be anything on it in Shibusen's library, but it was so abundant that being able to recognize and, if possible, counter it when faced with a practitioner of it was essential.

Another vital skill she'd need to look up was Soul Perception. Unlike the Weapon Gene, where from what she heard, theories existed about whether or not it could be awakened, you either had this talent, or you didn't. She'd need to look it up and find out if she did.

Finally, while she knew she would never surpass Black Star in sheer brute strength, she could stand strengthen herself, and outdoing him in speed and flexibility was definitely possible. She was already one of the more athletic students in her class, despite her utter lack of interest and knowledge on sports, and was believed to have great potential as a meister, but she would have to push herself farther to achieve her goal of being the best.

Now, there were two problems with all this. The first being obvious: time. While she was a quick study, this was certainly tall order, but she had years to work with. Still, she'd definitely need to cut back on her leisure reading time. Not that that was too much of a sacrifice, she enjoyed reading to gain knowledge almost as much as she did reading mystery novels and dramas, especially if the subject fascinated her.

The second problem was not so easily overcome. A lot of what she wanted to learn would be well beyond her current level. To be more exact, one star meisters and those without weapons could only check out one star books, the most important texts to her plans would likely be four stars, only be available to Death Scythes and the meisters who created them.

Good thing she was the daughter of a Death Scythe.

Nodding to herself with a slight smile of accomplishment, she closed her journal and stood up, stretching out and covering her mouth as she let out a yawn. She took her diary and walked over to her bed before kneeling down and raising the bed skirt, moving aside a loose floorboard near the edge of the bed and hiding it beneath it with her old diary. After finding her overprotective father reading her diary one day months ago (and summarily throwing just about everything in her room not bolted down at him in retaliation for this breach), she'd needed a new hiding place and was confident in this one.

With her plans nicely tucked away, she turned in for some well deserved rest. Tomorrow, she'd begin checking out everything useful that was available to her at her current level, and once she was finished with them, which would likely take a few months, she'd need to convince her father to let her borrow his library card.

Considering how he always doted on her when his hormones weren't leading him astray, it would be child's play.

* * *

**And so ends the first chapter. Hope you liked it. It will be a little while before Maka goes insane.**

**Sorry if the ending of that poem wasn't good, poetry is not my strong suit.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter. I don't really have anything to say, so let's get on with it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

* * *

The light of a new morning shined in through a window, bathing a young girl sitting at a desk, her head resting in her arms, in its luminance. Her uneasy slumber disturbed by the radiance striking her still closed eyes, the girl groaned in annoyance, her eyelids clenching shut tightly and her head burying itself in the protective cradle of her arms in hopes of clinging to sleep.

Unfortunately for the girl, it was already too late and her already tenuous hold on dreamland was quickly slipping. Slowly, she began to stir. Her mind realizing that, if the sun was up, it would soon be time to head off to school, she raised her head slightly and peeked at her clock. Sure enough, there were only two hours left until class.

She'd overslept. Again.

Groaning again, she rose up, sitting slightly hunched over, revealing slightly dark circles under her drowsy eyes.

It had been a month since her decision and she'd spent it studying and training like never before. She's wondered if that was why her old friend Black Star was so far beyond everyone else in the class, because he was so driven to become the strongest being who ever lived, regardless of whether or not it was possible for him to do so.

Well, now she found herself similarly driven, the difference being that she would succeed not just physically, but academically too. However, she was beginning to realize that maybe this was too much. She'd seriously been burning the midnight oil with her training and research.

Normally, after performing a series of stretches, she'd begin the day with a run through the city, usually with ten pound weights on her ankles and wrists, which she was hesitant to increase for risk of developing her muscles in a manner that left them rigid and unsuited for the flexibility she desired, followed by some gymnastics and a swim in the local river, fighting against the current, all for a total of three hours, followed by another two to take a shower and get herself ready for school. This was her new routine, ever since she made her decision.

Not this morning though. Even if she had the time, she was much too tired, she decided as she raised her right hand and rubbed her eye before stretching out her arms as she let out a yawn.

Rising to her feet and rubbing the tears out of her eyes to clear her still blurry vision, she headed to the bathroom, walking slowly in the lethargy brought on by her lack of sleep.

She reached the bathroom and shut the door behind her, flipping the door closed behind her before walking to the sink and staring into the mirror, noting how tired she looked and the unhealthy bags under her eyes. Maybe spending five hours every night pouring over books and studying wasn't such a good idea.

But she needed more. The more she learned, the more she found herself craving more and more knowledge, and the power that lied within, just as her desire to get stronger, to become the strongest, continued to grow.

On the bright side, between that and spending two hours in the library a day, she had finished going over everything they would teach in class for the year and had started on next year's curriculum. She silently thanked her father for reading to her so much when she was younger causing her to grow up into such a bookworm, it was probably the only positive impact he made on her life. Combine the retention from this with her natural intelligence, and she was able to quickly learn, peeking at her notes every so often to make sure everything was accurate in her mind.

Recently however, she found that sometimes it wasn't. Something that had rarely happened before. It was likely the lack of sleep starting to catch up to her. With everything else she was doing, trying to have some semblance of a normal life, she was only sleeping four hours a night.

Pushing herself away from the sink, Maka went on to perform her usual morning routines.

An hour later, she looked into the mirror, adjusting the tie on her schoolgirl outfit when she heard a distant but obviously loud, "MAKA!" coming from outside.

Making a slightly surprised sound as she looked in the direction of the noise, she walked over to the window and looked out, only for her face to twist in annoyance.

Her father, after spending all night out, probably with some girl he picked up, was running down the street, likely knowing Maka would discourage what he'd done or having been reminded of her current enmity towards him, was running through the streets so fast that it sent a cloud of dust behind him, crying at the top of his lungs.

"YOU KNOW PAPA LOVES YOU! I'M SORRY MAKA!"

Her eye twitched and her mouth twisted into a scowl as she watched him near the house and, as she felt the embarrassment surging inside her, said, "That's it. I don't care what it takes; I'm getting out of here."

* * *

Sid stepped forward from his place in the center of the floor, pointing back at the words he had just written on the chalk board; 'Wavelength' and 'Resonance'.

"Now, I'm sure you're all thinking that we've been over this before." Sid stated as his eyes roamed the class, picking up many bored expressions on his student's faces, who had clearly been thinking just that, some of whom clearly suppressing a groan. "But today, we're going over something new. Specifically, we'll be talking about how wavelengths can influence you. A poorly tuned resonation can hurt the participants; while a powerful resonance from partners can help them resist insanity. A wavelength filled with insanity can wreak havoc on the mental state of those under its effects. That's what we'll be focusing on this time."

Turning his head slowly from one side to the other as he continued to take stock of his students, he saw a sight that had been quite shocking at first, but had become more common since the week began.

Maka Albarn, one of his top students, sat in the third row up in the center of the class but rather than being her usual and attentive self, she stared down at him resting her head on her hand, her eyes half lidded, looking about as worn out as an old shoe. Not for the first time, he wondered what was wrong with her; it wasn't everyday one of their best and brightest suddenly started slacking off.

Or at least, she _looked _like she wasn't putting much effort in class. Despite this, the petite girl had gotten a perfect score on their previous quiz.

As he recalled, she'd been acting a bit different since her parents divorce went through. He was a bit worried for her, she seemed to take it hard. Normally, when not in a lesson or talking formally to a superior, she was cheerful and direct, if a bit short tempered. Since then, she'd been gloomy and quiet, pushing anyone who met her away.

It wasn't surprising she'd reacted badly. That was a ruling no one saw coming, and with her mother leaving town almost immediately afterwards, she likely felt betrayed by her mother for leaving, her father for cheating and the world for sticking her with him. If this continued, she'd likely retreat into her own bleak and bitter little world.

Making a mental note to talk to her father about it, he continued on with the lecture.

* * *

Maka kept her head down as she made her way to the cafeteria, carrying two books at her side; her current class book and her journal, hardly paying attention to her surroundings.

As much as she hated to admit it, this just wasn't working out well. If she continued on the way she was, she'd eventually burn herself out and she knew it. But there was just so much to do! She still had so much more to learn, and while her exercise routine was better than it had been before, it wasn't enough to bring her to the level she wanted.

On top of that, if she wanted to move out of her father's house, which without the influence her mother once had was quickly becoming unbearable, she'd need to get a job since she didn't want to stay in the dorm. Maybe something at the library. That way she could have full access in her spare time and a much easier time sneaking books out with her father's ID later.

And all the while, her social life was going down the drain, which would make it hard to impossible to find a weapon partner later.

But the determination she felt hadn't lessened in the slightest. She needed to learn more. She needed to grow stronger. Her will to succeed had only grown, as the massive chasm between her and her parents lengthened with each passing day. Every day she woke up and remembered her mother had left mere days after she lost custody not to be seen again for years, every time she saw her father not even bother to resist his old habits.

The bond between parent and child had been betrayed, broken, and unless something shocking happened, like her mother abandoning her trip to come back or her father either giving up on women or staying in a steady relationship (about as likely as a mouse falling in love with a cat or a wolf befriending a leopard), nothing would ever be able to bridge that gap.

She sighed and closed her tired eyes, bringing a brief relief from the slight stinging she felt as she kept them open. Maybe she'd have to think up a new routine.

She gasped as she bumped into someone, causing both her and the person she ran into to stumble backwards. Looking up, she saw the person she'd bumped into: Jacqueline from her class.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, would you?" The brunette said heatedly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Sorry." Maka said flatly and half heartedly, closing her eyes and walking by her. Or at least, she tried to before Jacqueline gripped her arm, stopping her.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked, looking slightly concerned. While some part of Maka in the back of her head told her she should know why, another part of her couldn't figure it out. It wasn't like they really knew each other. They rarely said more than four words to each other. Something she learned, from reading on history and from her mother leaving her, was that it was hard to tell what lied in a person's heart. In some cases, it was obvious, like her father's lusting one. Others could put on a mask of kindness while having nothing but darkness there.

Why worry about people you don't know when they may not even be worth that concern? She could understand giving someone a chance once you've gotten to know them or trusting your friends and comrades, but they weren't friends and they didn't know each other.

"What's it to you?" Maka asked with a light glare, her lack of sleep making her a bit snappish. It had all week.

Jacqueline took a step back, raising her hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. You don't look to good, you know. I just wanted to know if you were all right."

"Hmph. Well I don't see how it's any of your business." Maka replied coldly.

"Fine, then I won't ask again." She replied before with a huff, both girls walked away. Maka knew she could have handled that better, but she had trouble bringing herself to care.

* * *

Once class was over, after spending another two hours in the library, taking some time to check into employment opportunities, she began her way home with a newly checked out book on resonance, one that, based on its description, would hold new information about the subject that could be useful to her. The sky was painted orange as the sun, looking half asleep with a rather large blob of drool oozing from its mouth, hung in the sky above her as she stepped out of the school.

She stared at it with a slight frown, wondering, not for the first time, how it could be seen differently. For the moon, it was understandable, as it always grinned dementedly, sometimes with blood seeping from its mouth, but for the sun, no matter where you were in the world it always looked the same at each time of day, despite it's varying expressions, which meant that at this moment, in some different time zone, it was as energetic as it had appeared here earlier the same day. There had never been any known explanation for this.

"Maybe it's magic?" She mused to herself as she blinked at the seemingly living orange orb before shrugging and continuing on her way.

"Assassin's rule number one!" She heard a familiar voice call out from above her, causing a sigh to pass through her lips as she heard him loudly announce his presence… when he was trying to demonstrate a silent assassination on her. "Dissolve in the darkness and erase you're breath…! Wait in for an opening to attack your target!"

"Hey, Black Star." She said, turning to look at him standing on top of the spike that hung over the entrance to the school, causing him to jerk and stare down at her in shock, his eye twitching in disbelief.

After a slightly awkward moment's pause, his expression shifted into his usual wide, happy grin. "Good job! Not surprising you saw through me though, it's hard to hide as big a presence as big as mine! HAHAHAHA!"

A large bead of sweat ran down the side of Maka's face at that before she gave him a somewhat sheepish smile. "Yeah, it must be hard for you." She humored him.

He leapt down, landing with a slight crouch in front of her before straightening up and pointing his thumb at himself.

"Yeah, but it's no trouble for a big man like me." Leaning forward, he said, "You know, Maka, you've been pretty down and gloomy lately, so, I figured you could use a star like me to brighten up your day!"

"Thanks for the thought, but I'm fine." Maka replied, waving him off. "Really, no trouble."

"Oh come on, who's that going to fool?" Black Star asked, tilting his head to the side. "Maka, how long have we known each other?"

"Since I was three." The blonde replied in a slightly dejected tone, already seeing where he was going and knowing she couldn't refute what he was going to say.

"So I know you, and you've been different ever since this divorce. Now, I get why that's eating at you, but where are you going to be if you just keep pushing everyone away. You've looked half dead all day, that's not the Maka I know. Where's the teacher's pet that I've known for nine years?" He frowned at her, a rare expression for the normally boisterous and energetic teen. "At the rate you're going, you're going to wind up all alone."

Maka could have said he wouldn't know how she felt, given that his parents were killed before he could remember, but she wouldn't. He was right, driving people away wouldn't do any good. Besides, he _was _an old friend, not to mention the only boy she semi-trusted after growing up with her lecherous and unfaithful father. She sighed, before saying, "Yeah, thanks, Black Star. You might have a point."

"So, what've you been up to that's been keeping you up all night?"

Maka thought about this for a moment, and then had to repress a slightly malicious grin. She wanted to get stronger, and who better to talk to about it and get advice from than the strongest student in class? Maybe he'd teach her some stealth skills too, that she'd actually _use _unlike him. Oh, she wouldn't become a ninja or an assassin, it wasn't her, but stealth abilities would certainly be helpful.

She also realized that it would only be detrimental if she drove people away like this, especially when there was no telling how they could help her in the future, not to mention that it would make them distrust her. It was something she would have realized if her mind wasn't so addled by lack of sleep.

"Well…"

* * *

Sid was standing outside the door to his classroom, leaning against the wall beside the door with his arms crossed as he waited, his right finger tapping on his left forearm as he stared down the hall.

Soon, his wait came to an end as he heard the sound of skidding and a moment later, saw Spirit coming to a stop at the intersection of the hall, having run so fast that he couldn't come to an immediate stop, before bolting down the hall, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him before coming to a dead stop in front of him. The crimson haired man placed his hands on Sid's shoulders, his face a mask of worry and panic as he yelled, "I got your message, what's wrong!? Where's Maka, is she all right!? What-!"

"Alright, calm down." Sid cut him off, knocking the Death Scythe's hands off his shoulders before placing one of his own on his reassuringly. "She's fine, for the most part. I just have some concerns with how she's been acting lately, that's all." He turned away and opened the door to the class, stepping inside and looking back at Spirit over his shoulder. "Come on."

In short order, the pair were in the room, Sid sitting on his desk and a worried Spirit standing before him. "Academically speaking, Maka's doing as well as ever. Better even, she managed to get a perfect score on the last quiz."

Spirit's expression brightened at that as he pumped his fist in victory and pride. "Really! Ha! That's my little girl! Always doing her best! Isn't she the greatest-!?"

Sid closed his eyes, holding his hand up in a stop gesture as he cut him off. "But!" That stopped the Death Scythe in his tracks and the knife meister continued, "I think the divorce really hit her hard." At those words, Spirit sobered up and Sid folded his arms. "Recently, she's been looking really tired, and I've noticed she's largely been keeping to herself since. She was hardly keeping herself up today in class."

Spirit sighed, running a hand through his shoulder length hair before he said, "Yeah… she still hasn't forgiven me… I'm not sure she ever will." His eyes fell to the ground. "I've been trying to help her through this, but she just shuts me out."

"Hate to tell you, but I can't say I blame her." Sid replied.

"Yeah… I know. But what do I do?"

"Well, for starters, you could try to find a stable relationship or just focus your life on her entirely." There was a moment of silence between the two before he laughed. "Yeah, like that'll happen."

"Don't remind me, I can't help myself." Spirit replied glumly. "I wouldn't be surprised if she never forgave me… I know I'll never forgive myself for driving away my wife-" He winced slightly and quickly added, "-sorry, ex-wife."

"… If you can't forgive yourself, then why do you still act exactly the same way?"

Ignoring Sid, Spirit continued, "But I just don't know how to win her back…"

"Well, hopefully, she'll be able to work it out on her own, or maybe her friends will help her. It'd be a shame if one of our brightest students started slipping."

* * *

Maka stirred as an irritating noise began to cut through her blissful slumber, causing her to groan as she began to wake up from a restful night's sleep. Beside her on the nightstand, an alarm clock was blaring full blast. After a few moments of trying to ignore the sound, she reached out with her hand and felt around for the offending object before finally, after two tries, she found it and clicked it off.

She then sat up, stretching as a yawn passed through her lips. She closed her eyes and tilted her head from side to side a few times, loosening her neck, before opening her green orbs and pumping her fist as a confident smirk spread across her face.

Black Star turned out to be very willing to help out her new exercise routine. In fact, he'd been ecstatic, commentating that maybe, by the time she was done, he'd have someone that could at least last two seconds against the Great Black Star.

It was early morning, the sky a dark blue as the sun had yet to rise. Black Star had required that she get up an hour earlier for her to train with him, but that was no trouble since she'd cut her studying on school nights down to two hours and started her studying an hour earlier, so she was now getting a good seven hours slumber.

She moved to the edge of the bed and swung her legs over the side, slipping her feet into the slippers at the side of her bed, before rising to her feet and stretching out her arms again before moving to the door to start getting ready to head over to Black Star's place.

She briefly wondered what he would put her through. She was sure it would help her ambitions, but it couldn't be that much different than what she went through…

Right?

* * *

Four hours later and the door to Spirit's house was unlatched before slowly opening, the hinges creaking as it moved, revealing a worn out and badly scratched up Maka, wearing a hooded yellow sweater and light blue jeans. The girl seemed to struggle to lift her legs up, managed to step inside the house, though the act was clearly a struggle. The moment the door was closed behind her, her shuddering legs gave out and she collapsed face first on the floor.

Black Star's routine was crazy! She hadn't even finished half of it before her legs felt like they had been turned into lead weights!

He'd also agreed to teach her some basic stealth abilities, which elated the blonde, but only once she was able to match his routine.

She groaned against the floor. This wasn't going to work. Maybe after a year, she'd be able to keep up with him, but she needed to gradually build up to that level.

For now though, all that was on her mind was a nice, hot, relaxing bath.

Now, if only she could get herself off the floor…

* * *

As the class let out for the day, Jacqueline stepped out of the class and began her trek down the long halls of the school when all of a sudden, a voice she recognized called out from behind her, causing her to stop and turn around with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Jacqueline, hang on a sec!" Maka called out as she ran out of the classroom and came to a stop in front of her. Jacqueline crossed her arms as she regarded the girl, tilting her head to the side.

"What is it now? You made it pretty clear before that you didn't have anything to say to me." She asked somewhat sharply.

"Yeah… about that." Maka said, averting her gaze and looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry about the other day. I hadn't gotten much sleep in a while and I was still reeling over my parents divorce and… well… I was a bit snappy with you."

Jacqueline arched a single brow. "A bit?"

Maka looked slightly annoyed, not by what Jacqueline said but by being forced to admit her folly. "Ok, a lot." She then

"Hmph." She replied before her expression softened slightly before shifting to mild curiosity. "So, what was keeping you up all night anyway?"

"Oh…" Maka's face took on a look of embarrassment once again, rubbing the back of her head as she smiled sheepishly. "Well, you see… I really needed to pour myself into something to take my mind off being stuck with my father, so I kind of went overboard studying. I guess spending five hours a night with my nose in a book might have been a bit much…" she trailed off into awkward laughter.

Jacqueline stared at the other girl as a large bead of sweat ran down her face. "Really? You think?"

"So, are we good?" Maka asked.

After a moment, Jacqueline uncrossed her arms. "Yeah, we're good." After another pause, she asked, "You want to talk?"

"Sorry, no time." Maka replied, walking past the brunette and half turning to remain facing her. "I just got a job at the library and I've got to go now or I'll be late." She ran down the hall, waving back at her. "See you."

Jacqueline waved back. "See you later."

Maka smiled to herself as she ran down the hall. Good. Having an enemy in the class was the last thing she wanted, if she could avoid it. No doubt if she let that fester, it would have boiled over to any of Jacqueline's friends, which could cause her trouble and cut her off from vital help.

With that issue averted, she headed to her new job. Five days a week, she'd spend three and a half hours helping out around the library, doing whatever needed to be done, and in her free time, she'd still be free to read.

* * *

That night, only half an hour before it was time for her to begin studying, Maka sat cross-legged on the roof of an apartment building with her eyes closed. It had been easy to reach the top of the structure with her current athletic ability, bounding from wall to wall until she'd made it all the way.

Right now, she was in a state of deep focus, clearing her mind of everything and losing touch with the world around her. She did everything she could to ignore her senses, putting even the feeling of the cool night air on her skin aside as she instead focused inward, looking into her wavelength, trying to see into her own soul.

This was, according to her readings, the easiest way to unlock ones Soul Perception, provided they had it, which, according to what she'd learned about personality types prone to the skill, she should. Of course, that sounded like opinion, and though she had no reason to trust someone else's opinion when it wasn't based on absolute fact, this seemed sound and there was no better way.

Soon enough, she found herself floating in a sea of consciousness. She was suspended in an infinite, black void, but she could tell there was a light before her. Opening her eyes, there before her was a small, glowing blue orb with a sort of flame shape at the top. Instantly knowing what it was, she wrapped her arms around it, cradling it to her chest.

"This is… my soul." She spoke out into the void as she closed her eyes. "It's so small…"

Just then, she felt the world shift around her and suddenly, she was standing in something akin to the natural world, but she could tell that that wasn't where she was. No, she was still inside her soul, and yet, she was standing on a hard surface, her soul nowhere to be found.

Opening her eyes, she found herself standing in the heart of a massive, circular library, though many of its shelves were bare. It had checkered, white and black marble floors with polished marble columns and elegantly carved wooden shelves going all the way up to the ceiling lining the walls, all engraved with intricate wave like designs. There were five desks scattered across the room, each covered with an open book, some of which seemed unfinished and covered in clutter in the form of what looked like various notes along with two larger, more elaborate ones, one in the center of the room that had all the writing supplies one would need on it, and the other against the wall with a massive index. The ceiling appeared to be made of glass like a solarium, allowing the laughing sun to shine its light down into the room as it hung in the center of the sky.

Almost instantly, she knew where she was, having read about this before. Even if she hadn't, it was fairly obvious. She was inside her soul. Everyone had a dimension inside their souls, a reflection of their personalities and experiences. This was her spiritual dimension.

She took a few steeps forward, walking towards one of the bookshelves that made up the chamber's wall, one which was more well stocked than the others, hearing the sounds of her footsteps echoing through the massive library, and ran her fingers along the books before selecting one and picking it up.

Cracking it open, she flipped through the pages and stopped, staring with an unreadable expression at a picture of her father reading to her when she was younger, the words underneath it describing the event, every action, feeling and word, in perfect detail. She looked at the page for a few moments before her eyes flashed in anger and slammed the book shut, putting back where she got it.

Looking across the tomes once more, she found a dusty one and opened it to discover another scene from her past, one that made her eye twitch. The page described an encounter with a bully from her kindergarten years that mocked her for being a book worm and a teacher's pet. However, her annoyance was washed away by surprise and then amazement as she found that, as she read about it, she began to recall that long forgotten memory in perfect clarity. Looking up, she saw the area was marked 'memories'.

She remembered reading that everyone's soul dimension was different and, while everyone's room was different, most people's spiritual dimensions served no purpose. Some people, on the other hand, had rooms that carried tangible benefits, either in their minds or in the real world. Fortunately for her, she seemed to be one of those rare few lucky enough to have one with advantages.

Moving to another area, marked phasmology, she picked up another random book and found it contained everything she knew about Soul Resonance. It was more than just what she'd read about in a book, the text seem to contain the sum total of everything she knew on the subject, combining all the knowledge into one clear, detailed book better than any book she'd read in the library.

She smiled as she raised her head and let her gaze washed over the books. "I bet this will come in handy."

Back in the real world, Maka's brow furrowed as her mind left her soul's landscape, returning to the waking world. She focused on the feeling she got when she sensed her soul and, in moments, she felt the dozens of souls living inside the building beneath her.

Looking down, she found she could actually see the souls through the roof and walls, though looking at the surrounding structures, her range seemed to be quite small at the moment.

Still, this was great progress. With the discovery of her spirit dimension, it was a greater success than she'd thought possible. She grinned in accomplishment as she felt the weak soul wavelengths emanating from the people in the buildings around her.

* * *

The next morning, as Maka stepped out of her door and began jogging to Black Star's place for their next training session, a small smile on her face as her hair blew in the cool, crisp morning air. She had begun to find it refreshing to be out this soon, not to mention being able to watch the sunrise. Adding to her good mood, she'd gotten an idea for how she could return the favor for Black Star, namely, by helping him out academically. Oh, she had no doubt that he would never be top of the class, it just wasn't his thing, but she thought that if she lent him one of her earlier notebooks then it could be a step in the right direction. Besides, it'd be no big loss since the recent discovery of her spiritual dimension ensured that she'd never need them again.

She had finished all the books and more for the next three years and beyond, and all she had to do was lend the now useless notebooks to Black Star, and she could make up for his aid. Good, she didn't like the idea of being indebt to anyone.

As she made her way to meet the blue haired assassin, however, she felt something behind her. A presence trying to follow her in secret, one that would have made her skin crawl slightly, if she weren't already used to it.

She came to a stop, an annoyed look washing over her face. Quickly she turned and saw a brief glimpse of red hair ducking behind a wall. She let out an irritated growl, knowing her father was following her. Weighing her options, she decided to try and lose him.

After 10 minutes of failing to escape from the overprotective Death Scythe, she rounded on him and, seeing he once again sucked behind a wall yelled, "I know you're there! That was the sorriest attempt at hiding I've ever seen! Would you cut this crap out, you're acting like a stalker!"

Getting no response, she sighed and, realizing she would be late if she kept messing around with him, went on her way to Black Star's place, her father shadowing her all the way.

She soon found herself in Black Star's home, where the Star Clan survivor awaited her on his roof, pushing his body up on one arm as he looked down on the street. When he saw Maka arrive, he pushed himself off the roof, flipping in mid air and landing in front of her in a crouch.

"Yahoo! Hey, what took you so long? I thought you were chickening out or something."

Maka's eye twitched, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Black star crossed his arms and closed his eyes, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Well, you were pretty much dead on your feet after we finished, so I thought you might give up and stick to keeping your nose in the books. Not many people can keep up with the Great Black Star after all! HAHAHAHAHA!" He threw his head back as he laughed.

Maka placed her hands on her hips and threw a glare his way. "You should know I'm not a quitter, Black Star. Once I put my mind to something, I won't stop until I do it!"

"Yeah yeah, but there's a first time for everything right? Anyway, let's get-"

"Hold it right there!" Black Star was cut off as Spirit came out of the shadows, sending such an intense glare at Black Star that. If looks could kill, the young assassin would be a smoldering pile of ash by now. "What the hell is this!? Sneaking out in the early morning to meet my daughter, huh, you stupid punk!?"

Black Star gave the Death Scythe a look of bemusement while Maka was looking at him with equal parts irritation and exasperation. "Geez, old man, what's your problem?"

"WHAT'S MY PROBLEM!?" He exploded at the youth. "YOU'RE HAVING CLANDESTINE MEETINGS WITH MY DAUGTHER, THAT'S MY PROBLEM! YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM HER!?"

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Black Star crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow at him.

"Deny it all you want, but if you think I'll let you lay a hand on my daughter-" he fell into a battle stance, scythe blades growing with a glowing flourish from his back and the sides of his forearms. "then you've got another thing-!"

Before he could finish, he stars flooded his vision as the back of a hardcover book, held by his daughter, collided with his skull, causing him to cry out in pain before falling to the ground, lying face down in the ground in a pool of blood with a large indentation in his skull.

Maka stood over him, glaring down at her fallen father. "What is wrong with you!? Is that all you ever think about!? I'm only ten for crying out loud! He's only helping me out with training!" Turning her head away from him, she let out a "sheesh" before she walked away, grabbing Black Star, who was staring in disbelief at the unconscious man, by the arm and dragging him away. "Come on, let's get started."

Maka let go of him when he began to follow of his own accord and craned his neck, looking over his shoulder at Spirit. "Man, what's was that all about?"

"Hmph." Maka closed her eyes. "Probably just him trying to keep me from turning into a female version of him, as if I would." She replied before trailing off into a series of grumbles as they walked into his backyard. It was fairly spacious and full of various equipment and obstacles, bars for gymnastics and lifts and bamboo shoots sticking out of the ground.

Once they stood in the center, of the yard/training ground, Maka turned to Black Star and placed her hands on her hips.

"Say, Black Star. Before we get started, I've been thinking. I might just have a way to pay you back for helping me out with my training."

Black Star waved her off with a good natured smile. "Ah, you don't have to worry about that! It's fun having a training partner, I don't need any kind of payment or anything. Pretty big of me, huh?"

"Oh, so you don't want me to help you out with your grades?" Maka replied with a sly smirk.

"Oh, well, if you're offering to do my homework for me, that's-"

"Maka chop!" Black Star suddenly found Maka's book lodged in his skull, though thankfully, he hadn't been struck anywhere near as hard as Spirit had, and was simply left kneeling down, clutching his aching noggin.

"Ah! What the hell, Maka!?"

"And how exactly are you going to learn anything or pass any tests if I do all the work for you?" Maka asked sternly. She then unzipped her shirt and reached in, pulling out a notebook, which she held out for Black Star to take. He looked up when he noticed the shift in her shadow and took it, looking at it in confusion. "Those notes should take you through everything we'll cover this year, and they're a lot easier to deal with than our course books and the lecture. Just follow that, and you should pass with flying colors."

Black Star blinked before opening and flipping through the notebook for a few seconds. After a moment's consideration, he shrugged and said, "Eh, I'll give it a shot. Thanks, Maka."

Maka grinned. "It's the least I could do."

Yes, this should get her debt to him squared away quite nicely. Since he didn't want any payment, he might even feel like he owed her.

Wouldn't that be funny?

* * *

Maka sighed as she stood outside her father's door, mentally preparing herself for what lay ahead of her. She had finally learned everything she could from studying the level one books in the school, which meant it was time to ask her father to borrow his ID so she could check out the higher level texts.

She had no idea what to expect. While yes, her father doted on and adored her, craving her affections, and he obviously didn't think of the consequences of his actions given his womanizing habits, she didn't think even he was irresponsible enough to let her check out books that were beyond her level, with knowledge that could potentially be dangerous to her development, if she just came out and said it. She'd need to pull out all the stops, use every trick, act as vulnerable as possible. She only had one shot at this, she had to make it count.

She reached up and knocked on the door. Trying to sound as nervous and hesitant as possible, she said, "Um… Papa… can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Huh, Maka?" Her father's voice came from beyond the door. Quickly, he decided to channel all the seriousness he could in an attempt to sound cool for his daughter. "Sure, come on in."

Maka placed her hand on the knob and pushed the door open, finding her father standing at the foot of his bed in his normal attire, his hand in his pocket as he turned and looked at his daughter with a confident smile.

'_Ok, act cool! This may be your first real chance to make a good impression on your daughter since the divorce!_' Spirit told himself as he motioned for her to come in. Watching her step in, looking to the floor and avoiding his gaze, he became increasingly curious, and slightly concerned, over what she wanted to talk about. She seemed to radiate uncertainty, something unusual for the usually headstrong girl. "Hey, how're you doing? Everything ok?"

Maka looked up at him nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, it's been a little boring in class since I've been reading ahead, but besides that it's been good."

Spirit gave a prideful chuckle. "Ah, top of the class as always. That's my girl, you always know how to make your parents proud." He looked up, his eyes taking on a dreaming look as he reminisced about happier times. "Remember when you graduated from grade school? Top of the class every year all the way through. You and me and mama went out to celebrate and…"

"That wasn't mama." Maka almost growled out, her expression shifting into one of anger at what should have been a happy memory as Spirit froze. "That was my teacher."

'_It was!? Damn it, did I screw that one up! How could I have slipped up like that!?_' Spirit cried out in his mind as he remained immobile.

A moment of silence passed between them before Maka's face became a mask of uncertainty and she looked away, bringing her hands before her chest and pushing her index fingers together nervously. "Um… Papa?" She began, gaining his attention again. "Remember when I said that I was ahead of the class? Well… there're these books I want to check out… but… I can't because I'm not even a meister yet. I was wondering… do you think that maybe… I could use your ID?" She looked up, staring at him with the single greatest weapon in a girl's book of coercion: the dreaded puppy dog eyes. "Please… it would really mean a lot."

'_Maka's asking me for a favor! I never thought she would ask me for anything ever again after the divorce!_' Spirit thought to himself, pumping his fist in victory and looking up to keep Maka from seeing his tears of joy. Schooling his features, he looked back at his daughter. "Well… that's a pretty big favor…" He gave her a thumbs up. "But it's no problem. You can borrow it anytime you want, just try to be careful with it, ok?"

Maka's face lit up with happiness and excitement, a look that brought elation to her father. "Really!? Thanks Papa! Don't worry, I'll be careful." '_That was too easy…_'

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review.**

**There will be a year long time skip between this chapter and the next, during which they'll be a new development that will set Maka on a dark path that consumes her destiny. Can anyone guess what it is? This chapter does hint at it, if only slightly.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.**

* * *

It had been one year since the day Spirit had allowed Maka to borrow his ID. A full year since a whole new world of information opened up to her. October had set in, not that that meant much in Death City beyond the approach of Halloween. The weather was the same as it always was in the heart of the Nevada Desert: hot and dry in the day and cool and chilly at night. The moon snickered as it hung in the sky, its sole visible eye staring down at the vivid world.

Maka pushed back from her desk, the now 11 year old girl smiling in accomplishment as she closed the book in front of her and picked it up, staring at its cover, a larger book on the desk underneath it. She hadn't changed much in appearance. She'd grown three inches taller; her body had also become more toned due to her training, though there were no visible muscles to take away from her femininity.

After a few moments, her mouth twisted into a wide grin and a hungry gleam filled her wide open eyes, her hands shaking as she fought the urge to read just a little more before she shut them tightly to ward off the craving she felt, the almost insatiable desire to pour herself into gaining all the knowledge within its pages. Having this book was dangerous in more ways than one. She had no doubt that, as serious as it would be if she was caught checking out level 4 books, this particular book would put her in far hotter waters than any other, but no matter how much of a risk it was, she found she just couldn't put it down.

She could still hardly believe her luck. The information in the books she'd checked out had been so far beyond what she had read beforehand that she actually had trouble understanding some of it, though that was no longer the case. This was helped by extensive use of her spiritual dimension.

Since discovering the world inside her soul, she'd frequently made use of it; trying to learn everything she could about it and milk it for all it was worth. She discovered that, as she initially thought, everything she ever learned or experienced was recorded within the books in the library, allowing her to completely copy down all the knowledge in any book or tome she acquired in a matter of days and study and research it further there. The mind and soul were truly amazing things. Inside her soul, time passed much more quickly, hours passed in that realm equated to minutes in real life so long as she didn't try something extremely complex, which allowed her to quickly assimilate the knowledge, reading her books from cover to cover in days and then truly researching and gaining greater comprehension of it through study and research in her soul's room.

It had other advantages too. Obviously, she needn't take notes anymore except for the benefit of others, since she could just write and store it in her spiritual library, even while reading the book in the real world if she concentrated enough. She found that the clutter that covered some of the desks were newly acquired information her mind had yet to sort, which she could look through personally to help it along. While this meant she'd need to analyze the knowledge she took in before she could study it, the altered flow of time more than made up for it and it also helped her organize her thoughts. Better yet, because part of the reason the mind required rest was to sift through the data acquired throughout the day, a task which she took care of before bed every night, it shaved off some of the time it took for her body and mind to fully revitalize itself, allowing her to function on two less hours of sleep. She could compose anything in her soul's dimension and then copy it into the real world. It also allowed her to practice wavelength control and the martial arts Black Star had been teaching her, since her spiritual avatar was identical to her real body, though this was limited to memorizing the forms and motions.

Not to say it was perfect. It didn't suddenly grant her a photographic memory. She could still forget things, forcing her to dive into her soul and search for the information in the many books within her inner world before she could recall it and as said before, just because she soaked up information like a sponge didn't mean she instantly understood it. Obviously, she couldn't gain strength using this, neither for her body nor her soul, the latter's power being a combination of ones will, discipline, and training the soul as one would a muscle. Of course, anything she did inside her soul wouldn't actually expend any energy, and thus do nothing for it. She couldn't use it to hone her Soul Perception nor increase her skill with weapons, as none existed there. Still, it was a wonderful tool for accelerating her training and, more importantly, her pursuit of wisdom.

While yes, gaining strength, of the body and soul, was vitally important, to her and in general, to a far greater degree she coveted the power that lied in knowledge. She wanted to be the strongest, but even more, she wanted to understand everything.

That goal had been both aided and intensified by the book she now held in her hands. At a glance, it appeared to be an ordinary hardcover book, emblazoned with S-shaped designs, but anyone attuned to the supernatural would immediately detect something off about it. It's pages were infused with immense magic, overflowing with arcane power that seemed to be inscribed in the words themselves and just holding it would elicit a desire to learn everything within it, to such a point that it was difficult to think of anything but that wisdom and how to apply and use it.

This feeling was born of something she'd initially feared. Something the book radiated. Something she'd gradually come to embrace that had been present in her soul, buried, since her birth and shaped by her views and desires: madness. To be more precise; the Madness of Wisdom.

She never imagined when she got her father's ID that she'd happen upon the holy grail of all forms of knowledge in this world, or close to it as it was only the manuscript and not the final copy: the Book of Eibon.

Through some form of magic Maka didn't yet understand, likely a form of advanced spatial magic, the grimoire was much larger than it seemed, containing a seemingly infinite number of pages. She'd been working on it for the past seven months almost exclusively but she hadn't even finished a tenth of it yet. The book had seven chapters, labeled after the sins and each containing a different subject. Pride, for example, was a detailed account of Eibon's exploits, from his origins and growth to the history he bared witness to, the world's true history from 800 years ago and not the edited version Shibusen's tomes offered. The other chapters contained his magical knowledge and formulas, information on demon tools, science, souls, madness and various other subjects. While she guessed the final version had many things the manuscript didn't, it nevertheless seemed to hold nearly the whole of Eibon's wisdom.

It was as if she was holding the forbidden fruit, standing before the source of all knowledge, and she basked in the glory of the ancient sorcerer's genius.

She'd learned so much, and yet the more she did the greater her craving.

She wanted to learn. She wanted to study. She wanted to be taught. She wanted to learn. She wanted more knowledge. She wanted to gain wisdom. She wanted to learn. She wanted to discover. She wanted to research. She wanted to experiment. She wanted to learn.

She wanted guidance, not of beliefs, but of pure knowledge. She wanted the freedom to forge her own path and views, to make the world her oyster.

And she wanted to share what she'd gained, to teach those who hungered for knowledge as she did.

She had been feeling this more and more since she began to diverge from the path Shibusen preached and desired to surpass all who came before her. The book, both its madness and the information within, had only fed this dogma.

'They go on and on about how horrible demon tools and sorcerers are, and look what Death's been involved in.' She thought to herself, her brow furrowing as she thought of what she'd learned about the Grim Times and Death's actions. What he'd helped create. What he'd been keeping from them. 'Trying to make us all their little sheep they can lead wherever they want, well I'm not letting anyone pull my strings anymore. '

But, for now, it was time to put the grimoire away. Tilting her head from side to side, eliciting slight pops as she worked out the creaks in her neck from her extended period of study, Maka opened the larger, latched book that lied on her desk to reveal its pages from a little before the halfway point had been hollowed out, making a space that she could slip the Book of Eibon into. What had once been a fairly common comprehensive, if somewhat advanced, tome on phasmology was now a hiding place for one of the most sought after grimoires in the world.

She placed the treasured grimoire in the hollow. She wasn't that worried someone would discover it was missing. She was the first person to check it out in well over 200 years, still, better not leave something like that out in the open.

Maka sighed as she closed the tome and latched it shut, hiding the Book of Eibon. This was something she was definitely not looking forward to, but it would be more than worth it.

She then closed her eyes, diving into her soul's inner world. Emerging within a moment later, she briefly looked up. The sun no longer hung in the center of the sky, falling as she descended into insanity, and now twilight had fallen over the library, though the light of the dimming sky was still enough to easily read. Craning her neck to look around, she saw all the pages and diagrams lying on the desks. Making her way to the nearest one, she got started on sorting out the information she'd gained over the course of the day.

It was thirty minutes, eight hours in her spiritual dimension, before her green eyes opened as she returned to the waking world. Rising to her feet, she picked up the book and moved to her bed, bending down and reaching under its skirt before concealing the book in her hiding spot before walking over to her dresser and kneeled down, pulling open one of the bottom drawers and carefully pulling out a box which she placed on the floor. The tape on the box had already been cut, so she simply opened it and pulled out, a red jug with odd designs of screaming people engraved across its surface.

She returned to her desk and placed the jar down, unscrewing the watertight lid and placing it to the side, revealing the clear water within.

She stared into the water with a determined expression. This was no ordinary water. No, though it'd been difficult to acquire, and cost her well over a thousand dollars, she'd managed to get hold of a jug of Kukon Water.

This special, soul wavelength absorbing liquid would not only strengthen her soul, which had grown greatly due to her increased drive but not enough to satisfy her, but also increase its flexibility and her ability to accept other wavelengths.

But everything had a downside. All the texts she'd read on Kukon Water spoke of the torment those that used it experienced. How it felt as if all your blood and organs were being sucked through whatever part of you was placed within it (it's suggested that one use nothing more than a fingertip at first). How it would leave her exhausted for hours, which is why she decided it would be the last thing she did before bed. The empty feeling of having your wavelength completely drained…

In other words, this was going to suck. Literally and figuratively.

Raising her hand above the water, she balled her fist and extended her index finger before slowly lowering her hand until the water rippled at her touch.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

It was worse.

She reeled backwards and her body curved back into an arch, all her muscles locking up and her cheeks concaving as her eyes clenched shut. She felt as if both her body and soul were being sucked through her finger, setting every nerve ending aflame as all strength was drained from her being. It almost felt like she was dying.

Her body shuddering, she cracked open one green orb and grit her teeth, growling slightly to keep from crying out as she glared down into the water, refusing to back down.

'I'm not stopping! I'm not going to let WATER slow me down!' She'd need this power to achieve her goals, and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way.

* * *

Maka walked down the halls towards her class in high spirits that morning, a spring in her step and a happy and eager look on her face as she neared her destination.

Opening the door and stepping through, she took a moment to briefly look over her classmates. It never failed to irritate her that she'd once had the same unwavering faith in Shibusen and their teachers as they did, following along with everything they were told without a single original thought, taking on their opinions without question, especially given how often they covered things up.

Her lips twitched slightly as she fought off the amused smirk that threatened to break out when she thought about how her fellow students would react if she told them the first Kishin was sleeping beneath the school or that Death had worked alongside the greatest sorcerer to ever walk the earth to create some of the most powerful demon tools in the world.

She had to admit that they did a good job controlling how the ignorant masses thought. Very subtle, considering they never actually lied, they simply omitted information, leaving only that which supported their teachings and allowing the children to draw their own conclusions, which would be completely in line with what they wanted them to believe. Death knew how to control people, even without using the Madness of Order that he possessed. And all to maintain the status quo of this static world.

Still, that didn't mean they were completely blameless for their lack of awareness. After all, they allowed themselves to be led along, content with being told what to think without having a single original thought. To be honest, beneath her kind exterior, she found herself feeling fairly apathetic towards the blind followers, allowing themselves to dance to Death's tune in ignorance. What little she did feel was mostly contempt, for following Death without thinking for themselves and for condemning the knowledge she embraced, that their master had partaken in.

She hugged her book to her chest as she walked up the stairs.

"Hey, Maka." A girl, her classmate since kindergarten: Sara, said. She was slightly taller than had straight black hair that almost reached her shoulders and framed her face and grey eyes. Like Maka and so many others girls in the class, wore a schoolgirl outfit.

"Hey, yourself. What's up?" Maka replied as she turned her head to look at her old classmate.

"Oh, the usual. How's it been? You look like someone with the world at her fingertips." Sara replied, arching a brow and tilting her head.

"Is it that obvious?" With a wide, genuine smile, Maka pumped her fist in victory as she answered, "I've finally got enough to move out on my own!"

Finally, after a year of saving all her money from her job at the library, even with the hit her funds took when she purchased the Kukon Water, she had scrounged enough cash together to purchase an apartment for herself and furnish it. It was a decent place; two bedrooms, one bathroom and a fourth room that served as kitchen, dining and living room. Not too bad for one's first home. Spirit had, of course, been horrified by the prospect of his daughter going off on her own, but she was adamant about it and stood her ground as she always did until he finally relented. It was her money, after all.

The man had pretty much locked himself in his room since.

It helped a great deal that her mother had sent her a fair amount of money for her birthday, along with a picture album filed with pictures of the time they spent together and a mystery novel, as if that could buy her affections.

If she'd wanted to show Maka she cared, this was a poor way to show it. She could have stuck around and been there for her after she'd been stuck with her embarrassing and womanizing father.

Her father was a man whore who couldn't keep it in his pants to save his marriage and, even though he went on and on about how much he loved her and her mother, he never changed. And her mother had abandoned her with said man to go off and enjoy her own life.

As far as she was concerned, they were dead to her. Where once she'd felt love for the pair, now she felt only hatred for their betrayal of her and their family. Looking through that photo album, she could see things that, at the time, eluded her. Signs and whispers of bad times on the horizon that she'd been blissfully unaware of, looking so happy and carefree as her father chatted up a girl in the background. As her mother pointed out some sign of an amazing sight that lied elsewhere and she remembered how she would speak with such longing about the old days when she was an active meister. Looking at its pages never failed to piss her off.

"Really? That's terrific! Glad you don't have to deal with that womanizing old man of yours." She said before placing a hand on her face in embarrassment. "I can't believe that sleeze danced with my mom at our kindergarten graduation. Seriously, I mean, he's hot but what did your mom see in him?"

"Sara!" The bookworm exclaimed in slight revulsion. "I don't want to hear anyone talking about my father that way!"

"Sorry, sorry." Sara said with a wave of her hand. She then leaned forward, folding her arms on the desk's surface. "So, are you going to have a house warming party?"

"You know it. You can come by, if you want." Maka replied.

"Great!" She replied before sighing. "Too bad though, I was hoping you could help me out. I need to pass the next test or my grade's gonna tank."

"Don't worry, just stop by the library and I'll help you out when I have the time. And I'll let you borrow my Maka Note."

Maka had gained a reputation as a perfect student, always getting full marks and placing at the top of her class, beating out Ox who at best tied with her every once in a while much to his frustration, and always willing to lend a helping hand to her fellows. Not to say that she was a pushover, but everyone was aware that, perhaps as an effect of the madness she hid from the world, she had a strong desire to teach others and share her knowledge and greatly enjoyed doing so. Beyond that, she acted the same as she always used to, which was as genuine as her growing dark side.

Aside from the fact that she really took pleasure in teaching, it also served to ingratiate herself to her classmates. Nearly the whole room was in her debt and she could call that in whenever she wanted, something she'd taken advantage of many times, and most of her fellows now thought she was the perfect teacher's pet and could do no wrong.

It was funny how much trust and goodwill you could rack up with a kind word here and a favor there.

"Great! Thanks in advance! See you there." Sara said, waving as she walked up the steps.

Maka eventually walked down a row halfway up the class, taking a seat beneath Black Star, who leaned forward on his desk.

"Hey, did I hear right? You're having a party?" The assassin asked. Since she started helping him out, his grade rose considerably. While he never put forth the brain power needed to get top marks, he was now an average student academically, whereas before he passed only on his physical abilities.

Maka nodded. "Yep! You're welcome to come by; it starts two hour after my shift at the library ends."

"Yahoo! This'll be awesome! Not surprising you invited me of course; having a star like me is bound to make it a hit!" Black Star trailed off into laughter.

Maka chuckled at the antics of her old friend. Really though, while he didn't notice due to the façade she put on, she didn't really open up to him anymore. She knew he would never share her views, or at least wouldn't willingly accept them, so that was a bond that she'd mostly abandoned.

She wouldn't continue this masquerade, hiding her true self here forever. She knew that she couldn't the moment she embraced the madness in her soul and began to read the forbidden wisdom of Eibon.

One day she would leave, and she was sure that someday, the old friends would have to face each other on opposite sides with everything on the line.

* * *

Later that day, all the students had come together in a dojo within the school, all clad in Karate gis with black belts as they lined up in three rows. The light from the sun reflected from the polished wooden floors as Sid stood across from them, his eyes wandering over his pupils. In the center of the room were three mats where they'd be doing the actual fighting.

A few of the NOT students were staring down from the second level above, one girl leaning forward with her elbows resting on the rail as they watched the students from the combat ready EAT class show their stuff.

"All right class, listen up. As I'm sure you're all aware, some of you have already managed to partner up. Someday soon you're all going to start going on actual missions, so today we're going to see just how far you've come in preparation for that day. Since there are times when a weapon may find their meister incapacitated, we'll be testing all you're combat abilities." He said, craning his neck to look from one corner of the group to the other. "We'll do this tournament style with two separate brackets, winner moves on. To test your endurance, we'll have four matches on one side before moving to the other. When I call your name, come forward. This is a no holds barred match where anything goes for the most part. The only restriction you have should be obvious: no permanent damage. Break that rule unintentionally or not, and there'll be hell to pay. You can spread out and converse with yourselves, but no talking during a match."

Punching his open palm, Black Star stared forward with a confident grin. "Yahoo! This'll be awesome! I'll get to show off how big a star I am in front of everyone! I feel sorry for the rest of you though, you have to compete with the almighty Black Star."

"Careful, Black Star." Maka commented with a self assured smirk of her own. "You shouldn't go shooting your mouth off like that before a match. It'll be that much worse when someone knocks you off that pedestal."

The blue haired assassin just let out a loud laugh at that. "Ha! And who's going to finally take me down, you?"

Maka just made a confident sound before she heard footsteps approach. Turning, she saw Sara approach. "You're really looking forward to this, huh? You actually want to fight Black Star."

Maka punched a fist through the air. "I'm always ready for a good fight."

Sara shrugged, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Not many would consider taking him on a good fight. You know his record so far this year is seven fights with no losses? He hasn't even taken a hit so far!" She put her hands on her hips and looked at the older meister, who was talking to another likely future adversary. "Honestly, if he wasn't completely dependent on you for his grades, he'd probably be the best student in the school!"

"Ok!" Sid yelled over the chatter, feeling he had given them enough time to talk. He walked over to the edge of the field before looking to his clipboard. "Ok, now the first match will be Maka Albarn against Kilik Rung!"

"Sweet, I'm up first!" Maka said.

"Well don't hog the spotlight. Hurry up and get this over with." Black Star turned his head to look at her. Having trained alongside with her and sparred with her often, though never in a public venue like this, he knew how far she'd come. And she'd already been the best female fighter in the class. Kilik was good, but he already knew how this would end.

Maka and Kilik took their places on the mat, standing behind lines across from each other. Kilik gave an excited grin as he adjusted his wristband. "This should be fun."

Maka smirked as she fell into a fighting stance, sweeping her right leg back so that it rested perpendicular to her left. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

Falling into his own form, Kilik said, "Since we're today's opening match, it's up to us to set the mood. Let's give them a show that'll really fire them up." Maka nodded and made a sound of affirmation in response.

There was a moment of silence as both fighters stood, just waiting for the sign. Their wait soon came to an end as Sid raised his hand quickly before bringing it down. "Begin!"

Maka shot forward, closing the distance between them in an instant as she threw a swift right hook aimed at Kilik's jaw. Seeing the move coming, Kilik leaned out of the way of the attack but was surprised when Maka spun into a roundhouse kick, forcing him to leap backwards to dodge, the blow passing mere inches from his chest.

Almost as soon as his feet were planted back on the ground, Maka had pressed forward and launched another fist at Kilik, this time aimed at his chest. The boy deflected her blow with a deft movement of his hand, and aimed his own fist at her stomach. Maka used her free hand to redirect the attack to the side and countered by raising her knee, but Kilik did the same, blocking her attack. Maka followed through with a palm strike, followed by a series of fast punches, all of which Kilik blocked, before the boy retaliated with a punch aimed at her face, which Maka gracefully weaved around.

The two began a fierce exchange of blows. Up above, the NOT students looked down in amazement at the pair, understanding now why they weren't to be on the front lines, aside from one exception. Maka ducked under a punch from Kilik before retaliating with a high kick aimed at Kilik's chest, which he caught. However, before he could use this to his advantage, the petite blond kicked off the ground, threw out her leg and spun, forcing Kilik away and preventing him from attacking while she was in the air, lest he take a hit from her leg.

Landing on her feet, Maka once more bolted towards him as Kilik did the same. Kilik made the first strike this time, throwing a punch at Maka, but she side stepped the attack, catching him by his forearm and pulling him forward while aiming a palm strike at his face.

The blow struck true, causing him to let out a grunt as the impact nearly broke his nose, sending waves of pain through him. Maka followed through with a knee to his stomach followed by a jab aimed at his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to double over as he coughed up a small amount of blood.

Maka launched a kick at his face, intending to end the fight with one more blow, but Kilik was able to raise his arm to defend, blocking the blow so that, rather than knock him down, he was simply sent back a few feet, landing in a slight crouch.

Looking up with blood trickling down his nose and from his lips, he wiped his mouth off and smirked. "You're good. Just what you'd expect from our class's top student."

Maka gave her own smirk in response as she readied herself to continue. A moment later, the two were once more exchanging kicks, punches and palm strikes, Kilik blocking most of Maka's blows while she weaved around the lion share of his.

Seeing an opening, Maka jabbed up with her hand held flat, stabbing Kilik in the neck, causing him to gag and clutch his neck as his airway was closed off. Maka then raised her foot in a high kick and struck his face, sending him reeling back about a dozen feet and knocking him off balance.

Leaping forward and spinning in the air, Maka launched one final kick at him. Kilik never even saw it coming. His eyes closed as he tried to recover from the blow to the face, he managed to raise his head and crack open his eye just in time to see the blow coming, less than a second from impact and far too close to have any chance to evade. Maka struck him in the chest and sent him flying halfway across the room, spinning as he bounced off the ground before skidding to a stop.

Kilik managed to raise himself off the ground on his hand and elbow. "Uh… that's it. She's too much for me."

Maka smiled victoriously as Sid nodded. "All right, next match: Maka Albarn vs. Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupre!" Maka moved back to her place as Jacqueline took her own. "Begin!"

Kilik being one of the top fighters in the class, the following fight was much easier than the previous one. Before her training with Black Star, Maka had been by far the best among the females in the class in terms of pure athletic ability and she'd made great strides since then. She was the fastest student in the class, beating out even Black Star by a small margin, though he was still physically stronger than her and she doubted that would change anytime soon.

The match was over fairly quickly, and things continued along that trend. Black Star was in the other bracket and rose through his matches just as quickly. Shortly enough, the two training partners were facing each other. The previous fights had been Black Stars, but despite having just fought three consecutive matches, in addition to all the others, neither he nor Maka were showing signs of fatigue besides the light sweat both had worked up during the continuous battles.

"Hmph, knew things would turn out this way." Black Star commented. "Thanks for making it this far, it'll make my star shine that much brighter when I win!"

"Sure you don't need a rest? You must be pretty worn out after all those last matches." Maka asked mockingly with a self-assured smirk. "I don't want you to have an excuse when you lose."

Most of the students would have gaped if anyone else had made such a comment. To everyone who knew his name, Black Star's fighting skills were a thing of legend only the ignorant or the foolhardy and arrogant dared to face. He stood undefeated since he first entered the academy and had yet to take a single blow.

Then again, Maka hadn't taken a hit during this whole affair either. Were they not on their feet, the students would have been on the edges of their seats with anticipation.

Black Star crossed his arms and threw his head back, "HAHAHA! You don't need to worry. A star as big as me isn't afraid to give his opponent a handicap. But forget about winning, you're still worlds behind the great Black Star! Do you really think you stand a chance?"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Maka said, shifting into a battle ready stance before the blue haired assassin did the same.

"And…" Sid began, raising his arm on the final match. "… Begin!"

Both launched themselves at each other, Black Star opening the battle with a right hook aimed at Maka's face when they neared each other, which the petite blonde weaved around, only for her to have to throw up her arms in a cross guard to block as Black Star pressed forward with a palm strike.

Maka swept her arms up, sending Black Star's arm into the air as she raised her knee to his stomach, only for him to catch it, brushing it to the side and leaving her open as he slammed his elbow into her solar plexus, causing her to bend forward as the wind was knocked out of her and a small amount of blood escaped her lips. He tried to follow up with a punch to her face, but she ducked at the last second, flattening her hand and aiming up at his vulnerable throat.

Black Star leaned back, bending just enough for the attack to pass harmlessly past his chin before spinning into a roundhouse kick. Maka leapt over the attack, flipping in the air and coming down with an axe kick and Black Star leapt back to dodge.

The moment she landed, both engaged each other again as Black Star attempted to capitalize on the apparent opening with a high kick which Maka deflected with her arm, weaving into his guard and throwing a punch at his chest, only for him to grab her wrist. Using her free hand to strike his wrist, forcing him to release her extremity, the two began exchanging a series of blows until Maka ducked under a fist and spun on her heel, attempting to sweep Black Star's legs out from under him. Black Star jumped into the air to dodge and Maka immediately kicked off the ground.

Black Star may have been skilled in aerial combat, but Maka was nearly as good and at the moment, he was wide open. The moment they met in the air, Maka jabbed the blue haired assassin in the center of his chest, causing him to cough up crimson liquid before following up with several quick punches to the chest.

Black Star raised his leg to counter, but Maka caught it and did the same, only to be met with the same response from him. They both kicked out with their free legs, only to catch one another once more, before kicking off each other. Both flipped in the air and landed on their feet, rising to their full height and smirking before shooting forward, meeting in a flurry of movement.

Black Star had greater strength, while Maka was more graceful and had greater speed and flexibility, but not enough to be overwhelming. There was also a difference in skill. While Maka had been training about as hard as Black Star for the past year, he'd been doing it longer and had more experience.

Maka raised her leg, aiming a kick at Black Star's torso, only for him to ward off the blow with his left arm, bracing his limb with his right arm. He then swept his leg out, knocking Maka's feet out from under her. Pushing her leg away, Black Star threw a punch at Maka's face. Maka blocked, only for her eyes to widen in when he plowed forward, revealing the blow to be a feint.

He slammed his shoulder into her chest, causing the air to rush out of her lungs as she was shoved backwards.

The moment Black Star's foot touched the ground, he immediately pressed his advantage, launching himself forward and kicking Maka in the chest, sending her flying backwards and landing on the ground in a heap and the blue haired assassin charged to finish the battle.

Maka looked up and saw him approaching. Refusing to allow herself to lose, she placed her palm on the ground and twisted her body, flipping up and spinning, extending her legs, forcing Black Star to stop. Seeing him come to a halt, Maka flipped back onto her feet and launched herself at him.

Blocking a punch aimed at his face, Black Star struck Maka in the side before delivering a roundhouse kick to her face, sending her to the floor, only for her to land on her hands and flip backwards, alternating from her hands to her feet rapidly and putting some distance between them. Black Star shot forward to try to take advantage of the opening this seemed to create, only for Maka to leap into the air above him, landing a blow on the back of his head before landing with her back to him and kicking off the ground backwards, turning to him with her arm cocked and ready to strike.

Knowing that he was vulnerable, Black Star tried to leap away and do the same, but Maka was faster and had moved first. All he managed to do was turn to face her in time to see her land a punch on his face, sending him sprawling backwards and Maka shot forward to press the attack, her head tilted forward and her face masked by shadow.

Seeing what seemed to be the perfect chance to end it, feeling her bloodlust and desire to crush her opponents born from the madness in her soul rising to an all time high at the prospect of defeating the only opponent in their class at her level, Maka's mask of sanity slipped for a brief moment. While none could see her expression due to her position, her eyes went wide with a demented and bloodthirsty look and her pupils appeared in their normally solid, vivid green depths, her mouth spread into a wide, insane grin bearing all her teeth.

Too bad, but that coveted victory was destined to be snatched from her clutches.

Black Star recovered just in time, opening his eye to see Maka closing the distance between them and reading her moves, knowing exactly what she was about to do. Timing his movements, he deflected the blow over his shoulder at the last moment, causing her expression to shift to one of shock. Gripping her arm with his, Black Star spun and threw her, sending her flying through the air upside down with her back to him.

"Time to finish this!" She flipped and landed on her feet just in time to see him shoot forward, his elbow extended.

"You're mine! Finishing strike-!" His blow struck true, his elbow digging into her stomach and stunning her before punching her in the chest. "Black Star Big Wave!"

At those words, a wave of soul energy erupted from his fist, coursing through Maka's body as several kanji symbols made from energy filled the air around them. Maka felt pain reverberate through her entire being as Black Star's wavelength coursed through her, damaging all her organs.

She was sent flying back, slamming into the wall and before falling to the floor and landing on her butt, blood escaping her mouth as she panted and tried to look up at Black Star.

"It looks like it's over. Black Star is the winner." Sid said, taking a step towards them. "That was a good match, you two. Safe to say you're definitely at the top of the class in terns of combat ability."

"Heh, as if there was any doubt." Black Star said as he walked over to the downed girl and offered her a hand to help her get back up, which she took without a moment's hesitation, letting him pull her back up to her feet. "Good fight back there, Maka. It's good to have somebody who can give me a challenge."

In the back of his mind however, he was thinking back to the moment before he caught her arm. For a brief moment, he got a glimpse of the look on her face and his thoughts returned to it. The shadows had still covered her left eye completely and left only her right eye and the lower half of her face visible. That look, reeking of bloodlust and insanity. Ultimately, he dismissed it though. He wasn't even sure he saw it, and while out of character for Maka, some students occasionally made similar expressions in battle.

Maka nodded. "Yeah, it was fun." 'Not only that, I got to see a direct wavelength attack firsthand. I didn't know he could do that.' "I thought I had you for a moment there."

"Like I said, it's way too soon for you to try to take on the great Black Star!"

"Guess so. I'll just have to try harder." Maka replied before pumping her fist. "Next time, I won't lose!" 'And I'll definitely need to pick up wavelength attacks once I strengthen my soul a bit…'

* * *

As the sun set on Death City, the sky colored by the darkened blue hues of twilight, Maka sat back, smiling as she raised another piece of her slice of freshly baked pie to her lips. As the sweet taste filled her mouth, her eyes roamed across the room. Black Star was sitting on the armchair across from her own, rubbing his stomach, swollen from gorging himself on the food she'd provided, one leg propped up on the table. Sara was on the couch, along with Kilik, enjoying her own piece of pie.

The house warming party had been a small affair, not surprising considering that she wasn't actually close to her classmates.

"Ah, man that was some good stuff, Maka." Black Star said as he sat back, patting his stomach in contentment with a wide grin plastered on his face.

"Yeah, when did you become such a good cook?" Kilik asked.

Maka shrugged. "Oh, just something I picked up over last year. I thought it'd be a good idea when I decided to strike out on my own."

Sara grinned teasingly at her as she leaned forward and asked with a mischievous tone, "Didn't want to end up eating takeout all day every day, huh?"

Maka's eye twitched before she averted her gaze, her cheeks flushing slightly. "I wasn't that bad…"

Sara just laughed as Maka tried to save face, but the look of mortification on her face made it clear to the males that Sara had hit the nail on the head. Maka and Sara knew that it had, in fact, been that bad when she'd started. She remembered coming over to her house for some help with her homework when Maka was first starting out. Her efforts had been, for lack of a better word for it, abysmal. Both recalled the incident where she attempted to bake a loaf of bread and wound up with charcoal. And that had nothing on the other disasters that had come out of her father's kitchen.

'She's never going to let me live that down…' Maka thought glumly.

Still, one year along with the improved memory provided by her spiritual dimension did wonders for her skills. She'd devoted one of the two hours it saved her a day to improving her cooking ability and it had certainly paid off. She wasn't a gourmet chef or anything but she could treat herself to a good, home cooked meal.

"Seriously though, this is a nice place you got here, Maka. How'd you afford all this?"

Maka shrugged, turning her head and letting her gaze wash over the apartment, a sense of accomplishment present in her green eyes. It was a four room apartment consisting of two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen joined with the living room. The living room had two red sofas and a matching armchair positioned around a table and across from a TV with several two bookshelves, one by the sofa and the other next to the TV stand. The kitchen had a counter with decent appliances she'd found on sale lined up on the counter and an oven with a built in stove at its end.

Her own room had a soft pink-purple color scheme and a red tiled floor with two windows, another bookshelf next to her nightstand, a wardrobe and a desk against the far wall. The other, currently empty bedroom had blue tiled floors and was simply furnished with a bed, a desk and a chest of drawers.

It wasn't much really, but it was through her own work that she was able to afford it, together with her mother's payments and the allowance Shibusen gave its students. She wouldn't have to put up with her annoying father and the constant reminders of the past anymore.

More importantly, it was all hers. She'd have to leave a lot of it behind someday, but for today, it all belonged to her.

"Oh, you know. I scrounged up what I could from my paycheck at the library and from my allowance. It helped that mama sends me money every now and then."

"It must be nice to hear from her. How's she doing?"

Maka smiled warmly, in great contrast to what she felt inside. Cold resentment washed over her like an ocean wave. She'd be perfectly content never hearing from her mother again. "She's doing great! I just got a postcard from the Bahamas, she's seeing all kinds of amazing sights."

Sara gave her a somewhat sad smile. "It must be hard, not being there with her."

"Hey, I'm a big girl. I can handle it knowing she's happy." Maka replied.

"I bet your creepy old man threw a fit about this, huh?" Black Star questioned the blonde, who looked annoyed.

"You can say that again." She grumbled under her breath as her mouth twisted into a grimace at the memory.

"I can see why you feel the way you do, but maybe you're being a bit harsh on him." Sara said, drawing Maka's attention. "You know he cares about you."

"Yeah, but not enough." Maka murmured.

"So, it's just going to be you out on your own, huh?" Kilik asked, turning to Maka, who nodded in response.

"Yeah, until I find my partner."

"What kind of weapon are you looking for, anyway? Got any ideas?" Kilik questioned before pumping his fist. "I'm looking for a gauntlet or a knife. Anything I can fight hand to hand with, but really, I'd be ok with anything."

"I'm going to be a scythe meister, I'm sure of it."

"Oh? Just like your mom, right? Are you trying to follow in her footsteps?" Sara asked curiously, but she was surprised by Maka's response.

While one would expect a smile from such a question, Maka's brow furrowed, staring down through the glass table in front of her to the floor, an intensity burning in her green orbs stronger than anything she or the two boys had seen in their depths before.

Staring down at the floor, Maka said with conviction, "I'm not just going to be the same as my mother." She passed before continuing. "I'm going to surpass her. I'm going to be stronger than my mother, and I'll create a weapon more powerful than my father."

And not just them. She was going to surpass everyone.

She found it somewhat funny that she and Black Star were the best in their class when they shared basically the same goal: to surpass all others. Difference was, Maka would actually succeed. She'd go beyond everything and everyone who came before her. She'd become stronger than her parents could ever dream of being. She'd study and amass knowledge and wisdom until it exceeded Eibon's. And she'd become more powerful than even the Lord Death himself.

She could still remember the day her desire to break free of his rules consumed her, pouring over the history left behind by Eibon and learning of his past and Death's too. There was so much hypocrisy in what he preached, and it tore it when she learned, on top of everything else he'd hidden or lied about, that he'd created a child for the sake of an experiment, as well as to rid himself of the fear he now taught was so important. Not only did that strike her as a horrible thing to do, even in her maddened state, but also supremely foolish. How could any good possibly come of a being literally born from fear? She wondered how many would follow him if they knew he'd sired Asura; the first and most terrible Kishin.

Death had joined the list of broken and now reviled pedestals along with her parents, and she wasn't going to follow any of their rules anymore. She would make them pay for abandoning her, betraying her, trying to control her. She would surpass even the God of Death and Order… by becoming a god herself.

She would surpass Death himself… by becoming a Kishin. With that power, her shackles would be truly and forever broken, and she'd be free to do whatever she wanted.

* * *

Hours later, as the moon hung in the sky above the city, Maka sat on top of her building with her legs crossed, her eyes closed as she focused. After a year of training, she no longer needed to enter such a state of focus in order to use her Soul Perception, but right now she was trying something beyond her normal efforts. Until now, she'd focused on how quickly she could pull up her senses, training until it was passive at a certain range, and on how far her range could extend. As of now, she could sense about half of Death City when she put her all into it.

Now, however, she was trying to pinpoint souls she knew. Every soul had a unique feel to it, and if one was proficient enough, you could actually read the personality of the person whose soul you were observing. She was trying to pick out the wavelength of a few individuals out of the sea of lights that made up the town and its people.

It was something she'd been trying for the past few weeks, but much to her frustration had made no headway in. But tonight, something was different.

Frowning at sensing… something she couldn't identify that had always been there every time she used the full scale of her Soul Perception. A massive undercurrent of power in the background of the city she couldn't identify, her eyes shot open when she sensed something that, through the book, she'd grown intimately familiar with.

Magic. A soul had just unleashed magic.

It didn't feel like the magic of the book. It felt more… primal. Less focused and controlled, but it felt strange… almost… pure.

Her mind raced to try to figure out what she was feeling as she stood up before running to the edge of the roof and leaping off, landing on the lower roof next door and running along its tiles at top speed towards its source, curiosity filling her.

As she made her way to its source, she began to put it together. She remembered reading that there were two different types of magic in the world. Madou, used by the rare sorcerers and even rarer sorceresses, and Mahou, used by witches and rarer warlocks.

Madou was more potent than Mahou, and while it could be focused in spells mostly the same way, it also incorporated science and mathematics, the latter of which could be performed with Mahou as well but with far more difficulty as it was against its nature. This allowed Madou users to do many things that witches couldn't, such as creating artificial life. There were many other magics that came easier to Madou users, such as the transfiguration of inanimate objects, altering or enhancing of other beings and spatial magic. All in all, Madou was of a higher order. Mahou, however, did allow for some things Madou couldn't, such as transformation and the witches' art of Soul Protect.

Soul Protect. That's why she couldn't detect it earlier. And that meant…

There was a witch in Death City.

Rushing across the city, she soon began to slow, moving quietly as she neared her destination. What she found, however, was the last thing she'd ever expected.

Hidden in an alleyway perpendicular to the building she was on was the infamous 'witch of the girl's dorm': Kim Diehl, the pink haired girl, with her hands on an injured cat, producing a white glow. Maka watched in amazement as the cat stood moments later, unharmed.

Kim was a witch. A witch with healing magic. How ironic.

Taking a spot at the height of the roof in a crouch, ready to slip out of view should Kim turn to her, Maka contemplated what she discovered here.

The primal Mahou power carried by witches souls engraved upon their souls what is known as the Sway of Magic, a desire to destroy and wreak havoc that drove witches to evil, which is why Shibusen and most people hunted them with impunity. The magic in their souls also granted them some resistance to madness, though they were still affected by it and most if not all had it as it went hand in hand with a thirst for destruction.

Kim, however, had healing magic, which went against destruction, so she probably wasn't affected. This would probably make her something of an outcast among witches… which is likely why she was there. Interesting. That was probably why she acted the way she did too, she kept people away so that they wouldn't notice anything off about her.

As Kim turned and began to walk away, having never noticed the blonde's presence on the rooftop above, Maka's mind turned to how this could be used to her advantage. This might be exactly what she was looking for.

Demon Weapons were originally created by combining the soul of a human, the soul of a witch, and a weapon together. Theoretically, in fact it was highly probable that a witch's soul could complete a dormant weapon and awaken their power… like Maka herself for instance.

Better yet, a weapon gained certain abilities based on the powers of the first witch soul they eat. Would eating the soul of a witch with regenerative magic grant her similar regeneration? That would be an invaluable talent. Depending on how powerful, a potentially god-like ability.

Maka's head tilted forward, the shadows from her hair covering her eyes before a before a toothy grin reeking of malice and insanity practically split her face in two.

"Kim Diehl… I wonder what a witches' soul will taste like."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review.**


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